By Fay Niewiadomski
Virtual work, mass resignations, economic upheaval and the AI tsunami bear heavily on the weight of decision fatigue for today’s leaders. It’s not the packed agenda but the depletion of mental batteries; relentless uncertainty is draining clarity and impairing the C-Suite’s judgment. Ask yourself: “How do I really feel about my decision-making responsibilities in the boardroom today?”
We are witnessing the deconstruction of a familiar world and its metamorphosis into something that hasn’t fully taken shape yet. Recall the milestones of the past four years: Virtual work replaces physical presence, the supply chain fragments, unprecedented mass resignations, unrelenting economic upheaval and now the AI tsunami.
Ask yourself: “How do I really feel about my decision-making responsibilities in the boardroom today?”
If your shoulders drop and you let out a deep sigh you are not alone. You are experiencing the leaders’ disease, decision fatigue. Your packed agenda isn’t the cause. It is the depletion of your mental batteries from the incessant demands for decision making. The energy in our mental batteries is finite. The continual assaults of uncertainty are impairing the C-Suite’s ability to make clear judgments.
The Executive Mind in Low-Battery Mode
Decision fatigue creeps up on us and shows up in little things like irritation over a crooked margin, procrastination over a termination or the dangerous tendency to select the default option. The pandemic was the ultimate stress test. Without warning, leaders found themselves in a vortex of no-win scenarios.
The leaders at a global energy technology company had to orchestrate the seamless transition of their entire industrial and manufacturing software suite to a remote access model. This meant simultaneously ensuring cybersecurity and operational continuity of infrastructure projects worldwide. This colossal mental load of far-reaching decisions involving ethical, financial and human responsibilities still reverberates.
The pandemic served as a catalyst for the technological revolution. AI is presenting opportunities but also a deluge of new decisions. A legacy automotive group is struggling with decisions on where to invest their scarce and precious financial resources: a new assembly line robot, collaboration with a Chinese AI firm, a Silicon Valley start-up or something else? Each decision carries geopolitical, regulatory and strategic implications and could impact the company’s future positioning in the industry. The plethora of technological options is staggering.
As if the pandemic and the technological revolution were not enough, we have unrelenting economic upheaval and with it, an inordinate load of decision making. The CFO of a leading FMCG business juggles budget allocations on a weekly basis. Which marketing budget to cut in order to keep inflationary pressures on raw materials in check? Immense mental pressure comes from prioritizing and un-prioritizing long-term brand equity over short-term financial stability.
Such hyper-vigilant decision making depletes our psychological resources and erodes the courage and clarity necessary for making difficult decisions. Our executive brain will seek relief either through dangerously impulsive or cripplingly indecisive actions.
From Reactive Choices to Conscious Decisions
No! The solution is not better time management. It is managing our mental space and energy cycle. Structure your day around your Circadian cycle. When is your mental focus at its highest? Fiercely protect that time for critical, strategic decisions. Your goal is to make fewer but more momentous decisions. Such decisions require clarity because they matter most. Here is how:
1. Ruthlessly Define Your Orbit of Impact’
Cut through the noise and discern the signals – distinguish the tactical from the strategic. Identify three to five decisions that fundamentally impact the trajectory of your business. That is your ‘Orbit of Impact”. Apply DAD to everything outside of that orbit: Discontinue, Automate, Delegate. A European pharmaceutical giant has applied lean leadership to its decision-making model. They have delegated operations decisions to well-trained teams, thus protecting the mental space in the C-Suite for long-term R & D and global strategy. They recognize that the quality of their decisions is their leadership legacy.
2. Structure your Day for Optimal-Flow
Your mental energy is a precious and finite resource. Use it with the rigor it deserves. Schedule your most challenging decisions for your optimal-flow hours. For many, it’s early morning. Free yourself of trivial choices. Standardize your routines. Steve Jobs’ iconic black turtlenecks were cognitive strategies for escaping trivial decisions and preserving mental energy for decisions that matter.
3. A ‘Panel of Provocateurs’?
The belief in a heroic, all-powerful leader is infantile and dangerous. Besides, isolation is a hotbed for decision fatigue. Counterbalance isolation with the selection of internal and external panels of trustworthy provocateurs. Make sure they think differently from you and will challenge your ideas. A prominent Chairman of the Board has done that. He consults a group of confidants outside of the corporate hierarchy. Their job is to challenge his thinking, ask uncomfortable questions, hold up the mirror so he can see his thoughts more clearly. In times of unrelenting turbulence, your ‘Panel of Provocateurs’ provides the discord necessary to clear your head and redress unconscious biases. You may want to cultivate your own ‘Panel of Provocateurs’.
4. Ask Better Quality Questions.
An overburdened mind looks desperately for a way out instead of asking strategic questions or reframing the situation for greater clarity. Here are some key questions:
- How can I make this work?
- What irreversible consequences could emerge from this decision?
- What other possibilities are available besides the one I am looking at?
- What future opportunities could open up as a result of this decision?
Quality questions and reframes convert reactions into responses by forcing long-term, strategic perspectives. They are also pattern interruptions and a call to mindfulness. Find a way to visibly display these questions in your boardroom.
The Ultimate Decision
The leader’s role and leadership responsibilities have irrevocably changed. We are no longer the maestro conducting an orchestra of professional musicians all reading from the same sheet of music. Now, we are searching for the musicians, scattered all over the place while the notes on the page are constantly changing before our eyes. And yet, we still have to produce a symphony that works. Our ultimate, strategic advantage is an uncluttered, sharply focused mind that is sufficiently rested to produce clear, focused thoughts.
The decisions that really matter are how to rethink, reimagine and redesign your role, your team, the way you use your time and your communication strategies in order to mitigate the risks of decision fatigue. The preservation of your mental energy is non-negotiable. Your organization’s future and your wellbeing depend on it.
